On August 22, 2007, an inmate filed suit against the County of Lancaster and the Lancaster County Prison Board in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. He alleged that his constitutional rights were violated when he was strip searched in front of other inmates ...
read more >

On August 22, 2007, an inmate filed suit against the County of Lancaster and the Lancaster County Prison Board in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. He alleged that his constitutional rights were violated when he was strip searched in front of other inmates upon arrival at the Lancaster County Prison after being arrested for a parole violation. He claimed that the blanket policy of strip searching all newly-arrived detainees regardless of the offense and without judgment as to whether or not such a search was reasonable violated his Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. His cause of action was 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and he was represented by private counsel. He sought class action certification, declaratory judgment, a preliminary and permanent injunction, and punitive damages.

The parties proceeded into discovery and also pursued a settlement. On June 13, 2008 the court (Judge Paul S. Diamond) denied the plaintiff's motion for class certification without prejudice. The parties continued negotiations and submitted a settlement agreement with the court on July 29, 2009. The settlement specified a class of those stripped searched upon admittance to Lancaster County Prison for minor offences not involving drugs, weapons, or violence between August 22, 2005 and July 28, 2009. It affirmed the new policy of the defendants not to strip search such detainees, specified that the defendant would train all of its employees to comply with the new policy, and allowed class counsel to monitor compliance. It also created a fund of $2,507,200.00 to be used to compensate class members. Provisional class certification and preliminary approval of the settlement was granted by the court (Judge Diamond) on September 1, 2009. The case came to a close on April 9, 2010 when the court (Judge Diamond) certified the class and granted final approval to the settlement.